Recap and Review of NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day 2021
Tonight, it was NXT’s version of St. Valentines Day Massacre in the form of Vengeance Day. A lot of people love NXT but tonight there were some broken hearts. Going into tonight, I was excited because NXT showcased all the things, they get praise for and even the things don’t get praise for. Before we dive in, here are the results of Vengeance Day.
-Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzales defeated Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
-Johnny Gargano defeated Kushida to retain the NXT North American Championship
-MSK defeated Grizzled Young Veterans to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
-Io Shirai defeated Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm to retain the NXT Women’s Championship
-Finn Balor defeated Pete Dunne to retain the NXT Championship
The opening match was the finals of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon took on the Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzales. Both teams have been on fire in this tournament. During this match, I felt like Dakota was wrestling a little more like a face. I feel like at times, the roles were revered in this match. This match was absolute fire and really set the tone for tonight. This match had so many close calls and it could have gone either way. At the end of match, Gonzales and Kai stood tall as the winners of the first ever Women’s Dusty Cup. They now get a shot at the Women’s Tag Team Championships down the road. I hope that the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships come to NXT permanently. I feel like the title would be used so much better on the NXT brand than they have on Raw or Smackdown. I believe Kai and Gonzales could be the ones to accomplish that feat.
A dream match that’s been years in the making took place tonight between Kushida and North American Champion Johnny Gargano. Before the match could even begin, Dexter Lumis attacked Austin Theory backstage, which left Gargano without any backup. This was such a great match full of submissions, hard hits and shear brutality. Gargano took Kushida’s best shots and submissions and somehow overcame it all to retain the North American Championship. I’m glad that there were no shenanigans in this match because it was too good to have funny stuff go down. This was a classic pure wrestling match that just elevated the North American Championship even more. I thought for sure that this was Kushida’s night, but I have a feeling that Gargano and Lumis will be crossing paths at some point very soon.
I absolutely loved the difference in styles, personalities and stories in the Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Grizzled Young Veterans were in the final last year and lost. On the other side, MSK made their debut in this year’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and put the entire NXT Tag Team Division on notice. WWE in general has gotten a lot of flack for having a weak tag team division, so it was nice to see two legitimate tag teams competing in the finals. MSK came over from a great run in Impact Wrestling as The Rascalz. When they debuted, my first immediate thought is that they were going to help move the NXT Tag Team division in the right direction. I legitimately did not think that MSK would defy the odds and win the entire tournament. Grizzled Young Veterans brought their best game and lost in the finals for the second year in a row. Going forward, I’d expect to GVY not take this loss lightly. At some point when MSK wins the NXT Tag Team Championships, don’t be surprised if GVY comes knocking on their door.
Io Shirai has been on a great run since last spring. She’s defended the NXT Women’s Championship against all comers. Tonight, her challengers were Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm. Martinez is a tough veteran who has faced all the well-known women wrestling before she came to WWE. Storm has a history with Shirai, which saw Storm winning the second Mae Young Classic with Shirai in the finals. There was absolute destruction in this match, and it showed why the NXT Women’s Division is the best division in pro wrestling. Now that Shirai has fended off Martinez and Storm, I am not sure what’s next for her. Who steps as the next worthy challenger? It will the be very intriguing to see who step going forward. The best-case scenario is that Toni Storm claims that she was never pinned, and we get a singles match for them to settle the score once and for all.
Ever since Finn Balor has been NXT Champion, he’s been in some of the best matches of his career. Tonight, the UK wrestling fans got one of their dream matches in Finn Balor versus Pete Dunne for the NXT Championship. This match had some excellent psychology by both competitors. This had a lot of great technical wrestling and a natural brutality. Pete Dunne has always been a fierce a competitor, but he went to a whole new level tonight against Balor. As much punishment that Balor took, I am shocked he retained the title. After Balor retained the title, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch came out and attacked him, which led to Undisputed Era coming out for the save. It appeared that Balor was going to join Undisputed Era until Adam Cole super kicked him and his buddy Kyle O’Reilly. It appears that Cole wants his NXT Championship back. Balor and Cole is never a bad matchup, so we shall see what happens going forward.
NXT Takeover Vengeance Day was phenomenal. The matches and stories all made sense and were well executed. I was on the edge of my seat for each match. The preshow was even exciting with arrival of a new superstar. LA Knight (formerly Eli Drake) made his debut in NXT tonight. I’m extremely excited to see what he does for the black and gold brand. I think Vince McMahon and the powers to be made a very smart in moving NXT TakeOvers off the big four weekends. For so long the Raw and Smackdown pay-per-views had to follow a TakeOver event and it wasn’t fair to any of the shows. Raw and Smackdown operate much differently than NXT. In many fans’ eyes, they believe NXT is the best show that WWE has. With tonight’s show, they have every reason to believe that. I must give NXT Takeover Vengeance Day at 9.5 out of 10. No show is ever perfect, but this was as close as you could get. There has been some talk about NXT having some involvement on WrestleMania. Whether or not it happens remains to be seen, but for now let’s enjoy and love Vengeance Day that took place on Valentines Day.
